The tree is burning at 1. FC Köln!
On Friday evening (October 25, 2024), after the embarrassing 5-1 defeat against Darmstadt last week, the Billy Goats also lost their home game against SC Paderborn (1-2). EXPRESS.de has collected the votes for the defeat against East Westphalia.
Struber: “You simply can’t afford to make such individual mistakes”
Cologne coach Gerhard Struber (47) about…
…the approach after the game against Darmstadt: “With the more defensive orientation, we then had to pay a price going forward. We wanted to be more stable throughout the game and try to allow little. We managed to do that and then we made it 1-0. After that, with very hair-raising mistakes, we slip into a direction where we easily give the game away.”
…the mental state of his team: “Winning would be good for us. There we would find the corresponding conviction. We just have to keep at it, it’s a development process that we’re part of. The team has experienced a lot together in the last few months and it is very difficult to overcome this mental gap. It takes a sense of success and today after the 1-0 win we should have defended the lead, but that is very difficult for us at the moment.”
…the defensive orientation: “At the end of the day you need a good mix. If you play the deeper block, you have to catch the triggers in order to get into active pressing. It’s more challenging when you’re deeper, but the team hasn’t had much experience with that in recent years. You have to give certain guys certain time. But no matter whether you’re pressing high or low, you simply can’t afford to make individual mistakes like that. That was the reason we gave up the game.”
Christian Keller: “He noticed that the team was unsettled”
FC managing director Christian Keller (45) about…
…the game: “We wanted to place a lot of emphasis on defensive stability, and that worked out quite well in some cases. We then conceded two goals in the second half due to two lapses of attention. Then you noticed that the team was unsettled by everything surrounding it. At the end of the day, we no longer had any solutions to steer something in our direction.”
…the uncertainty in the team: “It wasn’t a nice second division game. Not much happened until we made it 1-0. Then we take the lead and don’t allow much after that. Then there are two carelessnesses, but I do think we had a better balance today. In the end it wasn’t enough today.”
Take a look at the scores of the FC professionals here:
Captain Timo Hübers (28) about…
…the defeat: “We actually planned to be much more compact than in the last few games. At first we managed to do that and then we even took a 1-0 lead. Then we get two stupid goals from what is actually a compact position where not much can go wrong. Looking ahead, today wasn’t what we imagined. It was a very needed evening.”
…the uncertainty in the team: “I think the sticking point today was that we were too passive from a lower starting position. We didn’t even get the elements that make up our game on the pitch. We hardly won the ball, didn’t play forward quickly and didn’t have any transition situations. Then there’s uncertainty and then it certainly won’t get any better.”
…breaking out of the vicious circle: “We don’t have much time to think, the cup is on Tuesday. We have to move on, but today I can understand the fans being angry. We imagined it differently and at the moment I’m at a loss.”
Jan Thielmann: “The phrases you always hear after a defeat”
FC goalscorer Jan Thielmann (22) about…
…the whistle concert after the game: “After the relegation and the lost games, this is a natural reaction from the fans. If I were sitting in the stands, my reaction would be similar. I can understand the frustration throughout Cologne and we ourselves are frustrated too. We don’t know how to deal with it ourselves because it is extremely bitter.”
…the poor performance: “We can’t explain it either. We have to look at what we did wrong. These are the phrases you always hear after a defeat, but we have to see how we can do better when conceding goals. With the leadership we actually have to go second to create clarity. We didn’t manage to do that, then we eat up the goals we conceded and deservedly lose in the end.”
